Graduate Exhibition

An Unspoken Letter To My Mother

This is a series of work titled “An unspoken letter to my mother” exhibtied at the MA Graduate Exhibtion in the Royal College of Art in July 2019.

The work is an exploration on the concept of hidden. Through the pieces, I reveal things that aren’t supposed to be revealed and hid things that are'’t usually hidden. The notions of how we value things that are hidden and what is associated with it. The work is mainly an underlying conversation I would like to have with my mother about things that I can’t discuss because of societal pressure, shame or taboo.

These objects reflect on the notions of value, womanhood and sensuality. Throughout making the pieces, my work focuses on re-framing materials to comment on my culture and identity. Through the work, I use materials that reveal my identity such as gold, pearls, fabric and dkhoon.

dkhoon is a material that I saw the value in when i traveled to study abroad. I learnt it through having constant long distance calls with my mother which grew our relationship. My mother learnt the recipe of dkhoon from my grandmother, mama moza. dkhoon is made by mixing different ingredients together to form a paste. The main ingredients are oud wood or agarwood, amber, and different oils. each tribe has their own recipe. The ingredients are then mixed together to form a round shape which is kept to dry. After a week or two, the dkhoon is ready to be burnt as an incense for the room or house.